Bonanza, T-6A Start A New Chapter In Beech History
Two days after the
launch of the new company, Hawker
Beechcraft Corporation tells ANN it delivered its first aircraft to
commercial and government customers on Wednesday. A Beechcraft
Bonanza G36 was delivered to customer Vic Flegler, and the keys to
a new T-6A Texan II primary trainer were handed to Capt. Brent
Looby and Capt. Matt Pearce (USMC) from Vance Air Force Base in
Oklahoma.
"Over the past several days in meetings with employees and
customers, I have referenced the Beechcraft and Hawker books that
describes the history of our great company, and that we will now
begin to write the next book setting forth the future history of
Hawker Beechcraft," said Jim Schuster, chairman and CEO of Hawker
Beechcraft Corporation. "These two deliveries will be included in
the first chapter of that new book."
Mr. Flegler (shown above) is an HVAC distributor
headquartered in Tulsa, OK. His first flight in an airplane was in
a 1950 V-tail Bonanza, and he began flying at the age of 14 in
Dodge City, KS. Flegler is now a 3,800-hour pilot with two jet
ratings.
The Beechcraft Bonanza is the only aircraft in history to remain
in continuous production for 60 years, with over 18,000 Bonanzas
built and delivered in that time. The latest G36 features a Garmin
G1000 avionics suite, including the new Garmin GFC 700TM autopilot
-- the first application of the fully integrated avionics system in
piston engine aircraft.
The T-6A Texan II is the military trainer for the US Air Force
and US Navy’s Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS).
The JPATS program was awarded to what was then Beech Aircraft
Corporation in 1996, with training beginning at Moody Air Force
Base in Georgia in October of 2001. The Hellenic Air Force of
Greece has 45 aircraft and the NATO Flying Training Canada (NTFC)
program has 26 aircraft. The T-6A has accumulated over 550,000
fleet hours around the world.
To date, the US Air Force and US Navy have ordered 420 aircraft,
and over 350 have been delivered. The JPATS program calls for the
company to build nearly 800 of the primary trainers through the
year 2017 while expecting increased domestic and international
sales during that time. Support for the aircraft will continue
through 2050.
Vance AFB conducts joint US Air Force and US Navy primary flight
training. Over 90 T-6A Texan II aircraft are operated at the
base.